DUBAI: Economic empowerment of women was the subject discussed during the second day of the forum on Women in Leadership held in Dubai.
One of the main issues addressed was the lack of women controlling resources and their disenfranchisement.
Even though women represent half of the world population they only earn one third of the world’s income and own less than 10% of its total resources, the participants were informed. At the same time they represent 2/3 of the world’s illiterate population and 2/3 of the 1.2 billion persons living on less than a dollar a day.
This situation is compounded by the fact that women are in most developing nations excluded from political, economic and social power and only rarely have access to knowledge.
The conference concluded that this was a tragic situation and that if women had achieved equal advantages the situation of the whole family would have been better.
Studies have revealed that when have economic advantages then their whole family eats better, lives better and gains access to education.
One of the solutions the conference looked into was micro-financing as traditional banking sector cannot reach millions of the poor for whom small loans could make huge differences.
This solution was discussed in depth by a panel headed by Carole Escaravage, representative, Planet Finance, Sharifah Aminah Al Khared, Women’s Advisory Panel, Islamic Development Bank and Cathy Woolard, Executive Vice President, Global Advocacy & External Relations, CARE USA.
The panel discussed whether micro-credit is sustainable and if it is the answer to the world’s poverty.
The system uses the social trust as the collateral which includes not-for-profit organizations, community economic development programs or commercial financial institutions.